Survey says that IT will remain the biggest draw as the US economy recovers and American firms increase their spends.
by The Editors | editor@themetrognome.in
The job market slowed down considerably in 2013, but things are not so bleak in 2014. As per a survey by ASSOCHAM (Associated Chambers of Commerce and Industry in India), Information Technology (IT), pharmaceuticals, agri-based industries, banking and agri-related industries such as farm equipment and fertilisers and seeds will remain the largest employment generation sectors in 2014.
“These sectors will stand out despite the fact that the present state of the economy, where in a large majority of sectors, net employment is being lost and does not support large scale employment,” the study said. But, thanks to the recovery in the US economy, IT will remain the net aggregator of jobs in 2014. The US economy is showing signs of improvement which was also reflected in the Federal Reserve announcing the tapering calendar of its USD 85 billion a month bond-buying programme.
A large number of American firms are expected to increase their IT spend as consumer sales pick up there. Over 60 per cent of the India’s 75 billion software and service exports are dependent on the US market.
The other reason for the IT sector to stay fit and keep hiring is the continuous pressure on Indian currency, which results in their net income rising.
But the pace of hiring may, however, not be strong since the haze of uncertainty still remains, forcing company promoters to remain conservative in adding to the headcount. Top end IT firms and consulting firms will remain active in campus recruitments in the year 2014. Over and above the recruitment at the freshers’ level, the IT sector will see a lot of hiring and the professionals moving in and out as the top-end firms want to build capabilities to move up the value chain in the wake of rising competition in low-end services, though the sales volume would continue to come from this segment.
“Since our economy still remains a good mix of organised and unorganised, large corporates and small enterprises, a large number of people in rural India dependent on agriculture and the tertiary industries, there are inherent and inbuilt strengths which come handy when the chips are down,” ASSOCHAM president Rana Kapoor said.
Pharmaceutical is an ever-green sector and is least affected by the economic downturns since it is related to the healthcare. While people may cut their budget on nutritional segments, they need to spend anyhow on basic healthcare.
The Indian pharmaceutical industry, largely thriving on the generic segment, is well spread out in India and abroad, deriving sales from all over the world. This sector will continue to hire. However, because of some setbacks and tightening regulations in the US and some other markets, the companies will have to invest more in improving their manufacturing and R&D facilities making them at par with the global standards. The recruitment from the pharmaceuticals sector would remain active, though the aggregate number would be much smaller than the IT sector.
Banks, particularly in the public sector have found that 2013 has been one of the most challenging years for them. The non-performing assets have zoomed with the Reserve Bank and the Finance Ministry raising serious concerns over the high level of stressed assets. However, the year 2014 is expected to be a better year for the banking. The NPAs would be reduced since the focus is very much there on the issue and there are signs of recovery in some segments of the economy. Besides, a huge number of backlog vacancies have to be filled up in the public sector banks.
For the private sector, new licences likely to be given before April , will throw new opportunities. While the new banks will leverage technology, job opportunities will arise both in the brick and mortar as also in development and implementation of the technology solutions.
(Picture courtesy www.expatica.com)
